Thursday, 30 March 2017

A Tweet Too Far?

President Donald Trump has forced some of his most ardent supporters in conservative media into an awkward position as he searches for a scapegoat to blame for the Republican-controlled government’s failure to repeal Obamacare this month.

In recent days, Trump has zeroed in on the House Freedom Caucus, attacking the hardline conservative group for refusing to support Speaker Paul Ryan’s healthcare bill — legislation that he backed.

“The Republican House Freedom Caucus was able to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory,” the president tweeted on Monday.

Doubling down on Thursday, Trump tweeted: “The Freedom Caucus will hurt the entire Republican agenda if they don’t get on the team, & fast. We must fight them, & Dems, in 2018!”

Such attacks on the HFC have put pro-Trump conservative pundits like Fox News host Sean Hannity and radio host Laura Ingraham at a crossroads.

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Ingraham, who is also editor of the conservative news website LifeZette, told Business Insider in an email that “the Freedom Caucus’s input will end up making the ultimate healthcare repeal bill better, cost of healthcare more affordable.”

She declined to address Trump’s criticism of the group.

And Hannity started his Monday radio program choosing to blame the House GOP leadership for the colossal healthcare disaster, insisting it was not the fault of the HFC. When asked through a representative to comment on Trump’s attacks on the HFC, Hannity declined.

The Drudge Report and Breitbart, two of the most influential pro-Trump news sites, seemed to prefer mostly ignoring Trump’s Thursday Twitter assault on the HFC. The Drudge Report did not feature a story about the fracas. Breitbart featured a story on its homepage that included comments from Rep. Dave Brat, an HFC member who questioned who had Trump’s “ear.”